Embodiments described herein relate to conveyor belt-driven bulk or aggregate material handling systems, and more particularly, to systems for protecting the conveyor belt and bulk materials transported thereon, from the outdoor elements.
Bulk or aggregate material handling is an engineering field that relates to the design of equipment used for the transportation of materials such as ores or grains in loose bulk form from a source to a destination. Bulk material handlers include, among other things, moveable items of machinery such as conveyor belts, stackers, reclaimers, bucket elevators, shiploaders, unloaders and various shuttles, hoppers and diverters. These material handlers are typically deployed at facilities such as construction sites, mine sites, ports, stockyards, storage silos, power stations and refineries.
Bulk handling systems that include conveyor belts typically have such conveyor belts housed within elongated conveyor trusses. Depending on the characteristics of the bulk materials being handled, it may be advantageous or desirable to prevent the bulk material from exposure to wind and precipitation during the conveyance of the bulk material. For example, excessive wind may cause the bulk material to blow off conveyor belts and precipitation may damage valuable bulk materials such as grains to a greater extent when increased surface area of the bulk material is exposed on conveyor belts. It is known to provide such protection by enclosing the conveyor belt portion of bulk materials handling systems with covers constructed of corrugated steel, for example, by welding or riveting such covers to the trusses that house the conveyors. These covers however, add much weight to the truss that houses the conveyor belt and therefore introduce added expense in materials and construction as well as potentially destabilizing the conveyor truss with the excess weight. Furthermore, these enclosures may restrict convenient access to the conveyor for routine maintenance.